Victory Pest Solutions
BOONTON, N.J. - When Len Oppenberg first started Victory Pest Solutions in 2007, he had a letter of foreclosure on his desk and looked forward to one account providing $62.50 every other week so he could buy diapers.
Now, Victory Pest has two branches operating in two states with more than 25 employees and more than 2,500 accounts. Oppenberg credits never giving up for his company’s success.
“I was just laser focused,” he said. “I’m so grateful to the people who gave us an opportunity. It’s an American Dream story if anything. You set out to do something and you believe in yourself, you can do it here better than any other place on Earth.”
His foray into the pest control industry began in 2000 with Western Pest Services in sales.
“Western treated me so fabulously,” Oppenberg said. “If you’re going to start in the pest control industry, you would want to start with a company of such amazing people like Western. That was my entrée into pest control.”
While at Western, Oppenberg specialized in pest control in health care facilities, which he said was a unique niche.
“If there’s bed bugs in the operating room, they need you right away because it’s the OR and if you’re not there, they’re going to be losing a fortune,” he said. “There’s a certain sense of urgency there that a pizza place does not necessarily share.”
Eventually, Western was sold to Rollins. Coming from a family of entrepreneurs, Oppenberg saw an opportunity to start his own business in the industry that he had fallen in love with.
“I really love this industry,” Oppenberg said. “I love how we are able to help people. Knowing it was so vital, I said, ‘How about a career in that industry.’”
Although Oppenberg’s experience was in pest control sales, he got a taste of the technical side after selling a job with several restaurants. The restaurant owners wanted the accounts set up the same night, but the technicians were unable to do it. So Oppenberg did it himself.
“When I saw the other side, the service side, I found it to be really interesting,” he said. “I didn’t know too much about it other than what I knew from my sales training.”
In November of 2007, Oppenberg started Victory Pest Solutions. To address his lack of service experience, he found assistance from distributor Verseris.
“Verseris was so kind and helpful,” Oppenberg said. “I am going to be loyal to them forever with helping me with materials, showing me a lot of different things.”
Len Oppenberg (left) and his father Jerry Oppenberg (right) at a parade.
Soon after Oppenberg started his business, the economy was hit hard by the 2008 financial crisis, which caused even more difficulty for the fledgling company.
“It was, financially, a terrible year,” he said. “We are blessed that pest control is as essential as it is.”
Oppenberg was doing the actual service work while also making contact with potential customers and begging them for a chance. After a few years, Victory Pest began to grow.
“I just never gave up,” Oppenberg said. “I was able to get a loan from somebody to buy my first [Ford] Rranger. I was not paying my bills on time because I started the company and my income was essentially zero. It was all Victory. At that time, my credit got considerably weak.”
Eventually, Oppenberg was able to lease an office and hire other employees. Then, which Oppenberg called “the greatest breakthrough in the early days of Victory,” the company started doing $5,000 a month in commercial billing.
“To a new company like us, to start out and be doing $5,000 a month, it could’ve been a million a month,” Oppenberg said. “We were absolutely on cloud nine.”
The outlook of Victory Pest has changed drastically since its humble beginnings.
“For a company that could barely buy its first truck, we just hired two more guys [recently],” Oppenberg said. “Pretty soon, we will be at 30 employees, which is amazing.”
One of the ways Victory Pest has stood out over the years was the personalized service that Oppenberg focused on.
“You get two ears and one mouth,” he said. “If you listen well enough, people will tell you what they want. It’s something that we still have today. To give the customer a voice. Are they happy? Then responding accordingly. That is a lesson for all of us, no matter how big your company is.”
This personalized focus is something that Oppenberg sees as essential for the company’s growth.
“I just want to be the best at what we do,” Oppenberg said. “I want to give the best value, I want to give the best service and I want to be respected by our clients.”
Oppenberg gave his advice to those who are in the same shoes he used to be in.
“Don’t give up,” Oppenberg said. “Have a realistic vision. Work on your brand. Never give up. If there’s time to be out there trying to pick another client, go out there and do it because your next customer is out there somewhere. You’re got to go looking for it.”